A large variety of house plants, as well as a number of different vegetable and flowering outdoor plants, primarily non-ligneous plants, develop plant members that are too heavy for the supporting stems, or the like. The leafs, fruit, flowers, blossoms, stems, or the like will then bend or droop, adversely affecting the aesthetics of the plant, and in some cases impairing the plant's health. It is therefore desirable to provide plant supporting structures to maintain the plants in desired positions or configurations.
Conventionally, plant supporting devices have utilized ties, strings, and like components for holding various plant components to rigid supporting structures. Such structures can be difficult to properly locate, however, and can restrict plant devlopment if the strings are too tight, and are not designed for ready repositioning as the plant grows.
According to the present invention there is provided a plant supporting device, and method of utilization thereof, which provide for ready support of and proper light orientation of, a wide variety of plant members of non-ligneous plants without the necessity for ties, strings, or the like. The plant supporting device according to the present invention is simple and inexpensive to make, aesthetically pleasing, and is easily adjusted and repostioned during various stages of plant growth.
The plant supporting device according to the present invention consists essentially of an integral structure including a pair of arms and a junction between the arms, the arms and junction being disposed in a common plane; a substantially linear ground-engaging support; and means for providing a transition between the substantially linear support and arms junction so that said common plane makes an acute angle with said substantially linear support. The acute angle is preferably about 15.degree. to 25.degree., and about 20.degree. is found to be the optimum for providing sufficient support and light-orientation.
The ground-engaging support comprises a rod having a tapered, rounded bottom ground-penetrating portion which facilitates insertion of the device into place adjacent a plant without destruction of the plant roots. The arms, ground-engaging support, and transition means integral structure consists of--in the preferred embodiment--a circular cross section rod of a homogeneous corrosion-resistant relatively rigid material, such as glass, plastic (e.g. polyethylene), or other suitable materials. The material may be clear, colored (e.g. green), and preferably is inert.
Desirably, the arms, junction, and transition are Y-shaped, with the arms making an angle of about 60.degree. with respect to each other.
Also, according to the present invention there is provided a method of supporting non-ligneous plant members such as leafs, stems, flowers, blossoms, and the like, and properly light-orienting same without utilizing ties, strings, or the like. The method is practiced utilizing the plant supporting device according to the invention, and consists of about four basic steps. First, a supporting device is selected having a height appropriate for properly supporting and light-orienting the particular non-ligneous plant member to be supported. Then the tapered end of the device is inserted into the soil adjacent the plant with the device arms facing away from the main stem of the plant. This insertion is preferably practiced by slowly rotating the device from side to side while applying a slight downward force. Then the arms of the device are slowly turned so that they face the plant, and finally the plant member to be supported is disposed between the arms, and care is taken to adjust the depth in the soil or angular orientation of the device as necessary depending upon the position and orientation of the plant members. The above steps are repeated for each plant member of a plant to be supported.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a plant supporting device, and method of utilization thereof, that readily provide proper support and light-orientation for a wide variety of plant members without requiring the use of strings, ties, or the like. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention from the appended claims.